


miscalculated ingenuity

by emilieee



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien is a Mess, F/M, Fluff, Ladynoire, ladrien, post reveal post relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:33:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24931585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilieee/pseuds/emilieee
Summary: When Adrien’s Miraculous goes missing, chaos ensues. Thankfully, Marinette has a little something up her sleeve.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 21
Kudos: 147





	miscalculated ingenuity

Adrien’s Miraculous is gone, and if Ladybug doesn’t kill him, Adrien’s sure Hawkmoth will find out and do so. 

He doesn’t know how he lost it. He doesn’t  _ when  _ he lost it. 

What he  _ does  _ know are the consequences, and Adrien has thought of plenty. 

First, there’s Ladybug. When Chat Noir doesn’t show up to the next battle, she’ll know—and because she knows who he is, she will inevitably come find him. Then she’ll find out he lost then. Then she’ll hate him. 

That barely skims the surface of how bad it can get. If his Miraculous had been lost somewhere else, what if someone had picked it up? What if some random citizen in Paris had found his ring, put it on, and accidentally took up the mantle of the black cat? What then? Best case scenario, they find Ladybug to return it to her. But right now, it’s all worst case scenarios that are playing through Adrien’s head, and he’s certain that if something like that  _ does _ happen, tragedy is going to strike. Ladybug’s going to accept a better, more responsible partner. He’ll be replaced. 

Or worse—what if  _ Felix  _ finds it? After the whole fiasco of his cousin pretending to be him, Adrien can only imagine with mounting horror how bad  _ that  _ will be. It’s irrational, of course, given that his cousin hasn’t visited Paris in months—but  _ still.  _ Felix can be charming when he wants to. What if Felix, under the guise of Chat Noir, charms Ladybug?  _ What then?  _

Then there’s the worst one yet: there’s a chance  _ Hawkmoth  _ finds his Miraculous. Adrien doesn’t even want what would happen if that actually transpired. All he can imagine is Ladybug having to face Hawkmoth alone, but with the power of the butterfly Miraculous  _ and  _ the power of destruction combined—even Ladybug, with all her wits and ability, won’t be able to take him on her own. 

Adrien is going to cry if he thinks about it more. No, Hawkmoth  _ must not  _ have the Miraculous. 

He tries to remember the last time he’d had it. The last person he saw before running home was Marinette—Ladybug—and he’d been certain the ring had been on his finger when he’d walked home. Having already scoured the entirety of the walk to school and back to the house and now confined by Nathalie to his room, even searching is not an option. 

Panic nearly pulls him back under.  _ How  _ in the world is he supposed to face Ladybug now? Tomorrow, at school? What about an akuma attack, if he doesn’t turn up? Adrien can picture even worse scenarios, and they tumble over him like a precariously stacked house of cards. 

He misses the creak of the window opening completely, but the voice that speaks is undeniable. 

“Adrien,” Ladybug says, following the quiet  _ thump  _ as her feet hit the ground. 

Adrien snaps out of his mess of thoughts. 

_ Oh, no.  _ She’s here. She knows he lost his Miraculous. She’s going to—what, renounce him? Disown him? He’s the  _ worst  _ partner ever, and he knows it. She’ll hate him. 

Just when he’d thought they were getting somewhere. 

But he can’t stand there forever, and perhaps there is a slight chance that Ladybug doesn’t know. Maybe he can play it cool, find the ring before she knows it’s gone, and be none the wiser the next day. 

Adrien forces himself to turn around. 

And screams. 

It’s Ladybug’s voice alright, but instead of the red with black spots he’s usually accustomed to, she’s in a black attire. A hint of green lines the suit, the same color once-blue eyes have shifted to. Two ears sit on top of her hair, which swings behind her in a long dark braid. She’s the same; recognizable now that he knows the girl beneath the mask, but… 

Adrien’s legs have turned to jelly and he’s positive he’s a second from collapsing. Ladybug—Ladynoire?—is smiling at him, although her expression is slightly uncertain. Then she holds out her hands, where a white box sways, and says, “Surprise?” 

Between the choice of bursting into tears and collapsing, Adrien somehow manages to sit down on the nearest chair. 

“I—” he begins, but the words catch in his throat. “ _ What?  _ I thought… I thought that… my ring? Why do you have Plagg? What’s happening?” 

Amidst all the worst-case scenarios Adrien had daydreamed of, this is very, very good. But much more confusing than anything else he’d imagined. 

Ladynoire stares at him with wide eyes. “I wanted to bring you cake,” she blurts, stumbling over her words. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

“I’m not… scared,” Adrien replies numbly, although that’s a lie if he’s ever told one.  _ Not scared, terrified. Absolutely shell-shocked.  _ “I still don’t know what’s happening.” 

They stare at each other. Then she shakes her head and mutters, “Claws in.” 

In a flash of green, Marinette Dupain-Cheng stands in front of him, still holding her little box. Plagg flits from the silver ring on her finger in a blue of black, and plants himself right into Adrien’s hair. 

“Surprise!” he trills, voice cracking. “Oh boy, you should see your face right now. You look like you’ve seen a ghost—” 

“Plagg.” Marinette’s tone is severe. She waves her hands. “Read the room!” 

Plagg clears his throat. “Okay,  _ why  _ do you look like you’ve seen a ghost, then?” 

Adrien plucks his kwami out of his hair so he can hold Plagg in front of his face. “Where did you  _ go?”  _ he demands, giving a little shake. Marinette winces in the background. 

Plagg wiggles out of his grasp and points at Marinette. “It was her idea!” he accuses immediately, then folds his arms in front of his chest. “She wanted to surprise you because you told her you wanted to see her as Ladynoire again, and since you were feeling down, she also brought you cake. I  _ told  _ her it was a terrible idea, but she promised me it would only take a couple moments and you wouldn’t even realize your Miraculous was gone! Blame the Ladybug.” 

He ends his tirade with a glare at Marinette to prove his point, and Marinette glares right back at Plagg. “You—you  _ traitor!”  _ she nearly shrieks, scandalized. “This was  _ your  _ genius plan!” 

“ _ My  _ genius plan?” Plagg fires back. “Adrien won’t believe you. I don’t _ do  _ plans.” 

Marinette, seeming to have forgotten about him for the moment, pokes Plagg with enough force to send him back a pace. “You were the one who cornered me about using the Miraculous and surprising him. The only thing I planned was getting him cake.” 

“Well, everything else was you—” 

“Guys,” Adrien interrupts. His heart has ceased the hammering in his chest, even though he still feels like he’s about to burst. “I’m… still really confused.” 

Marinette shoots a death glare at his kwami. Then, putting the box down on his desk, she takes a deep breath. “Plagg told me you were feeling down these past couple of days because… um, it’s your mom’s anniversary for disappearing, right? Apparently you were talking about me with the black cat Miraculous a couple days ago and how you wanted to swap again just for fun, and I thought that I could do that and maybe it would cheer you up. Then you mentioned your dad put you on a diet  _ again  _ and my mom was experimenting with cakes the other day, so I thought I would bring you a couple slices of that as well and then I got caught up in the bakery because I wanted to bring more than one thing and  _ then  _ I saw that an hour passed and I really ought to have come by before you knew your Miraculous was missing and—” She breaks off to catch her breath, waving her arms around wildly once more. “Then this happened, I guess.” 

“Oh,” Adrien replies, because it’s all he can manage out. It’s still so overwhelming he can barely think. “ _ Oh.” _

“I’m sorry,” Marinette mumbles. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I got too carried away, and just like that, all the time passed. When I finally realized I ought to come find you… well, I guess you noticed it was gone. I’m so sorry. I just wanted to make you feel better, not worse.” 

“I don’t feel worse,” Adrien admits. He gets to his feet, albeit still shakily. “I was scared I lost it, and I was scared you’d hate me for that and it was  _ terrible,  _ but now that you’re here…” he opts for a smile that he hopes isn’t wavering. “It’s okay, Marinette. I know you didn’t mean to scare me.” 

She looks visibly upset now. “But I still  _ did  _ make you feel worse, didn’t I? I’m really sorry, Adrien. I-I should’ve thought it through better.” 

Adrien shoots Plagg a look. “Well,” he points out, “you weren’t the only one with the idea, so there’s that.” 

Marinette shifts her weight, and Adrien decides to change the topic. He reaches for the box she’d set on his desk (thankfully, his hands have stopped shaking) and opens the lid carefully. 

Nestled inside is a  _ pile  _ of sweets. Enough to last for at least three days, and also  _ more  _ than enough sugar to give his father a heart attack just by seeing it. Adrien grins. 

“I mean,” he tells her, mood now cheerier, “if this is why it took you so long, you are even more forgiven than before.” 

At that, Marinette cracks a small smile. “I made sure to bring your favourite flavours,” she tells him. 

Sure enough, amidst the tower of sweets, he spots Marinette’s signature passion fruit macarons. Adrien can’t help it; his face splits into a grin, the previous terror melting away. It’s undeniably sweet— _ she’s  _ undeniably sweet. 

“Thanks.” He reaches into the box, plucks one of the macarons, and shoves the whole thing into his mouth. “Loosen up, Mari. It’s fine. Not one of your most brilliant ideas, but it makes sense given  _ who  _ pitched into it.” 

“Hey!” Plagg’s indignant voice pipes up. 

Marinette slips the ring from her finger and returns it to Adrien. The familiar cool band of metal is calming against his fingers. He lets go of the breath he’d been holding, then reaches out and pulls her in for a hug. 

Marinette is still stiff for a couple moments before she melts completely into his embrace. She smells like strawberries and vanilla and comfort all around. “Thank you for cheering me up today,” Adrien repeats, “and bringing me cake. Even if you  _ did  _ scare me, I know you meant well and that’s all that matters. Just as long as you don’t do it again.”

She squeezes his shoulders. “I won’t,” comes the promise. “And for what it’s worth, Adrien, even if you  _ do  _ end up losing your Miraculous, I wouldn’t hate you, you know. I’d never hate you for anything.” 

Relief and fondness rush through him all at once, and Adrien pulls back so he can see her properly. Then he leans down and presses a quick kiss against the corner of her lips. 

Marinette looks like a deer caught in headlights when she peers up at him with wide eyes, and laughter escapes Adrien. “Your face is as red as your old suit,” he can’t help but tease. 

Her face goes even redder, but Marinette manages to sock him weakly on the arm. “Don’t make me take away all the desserts,” she threatens. 

Plagg, who has moved to sitting on Adrien’s desk, makes a gagging sound. “Can you take your flirting somewhere else?” he demands. “I’m glad Adrien’s feeling better and all, but—hey! Tikki! It’s the truth and you kn— _ mmph _ —” 

Adrien watches as Tikki drags Plagg away, a paw pressed securely over his mouth. She gives him and Marinette a cheerful little wave, then turns back to scolding the black kwami. 

A little giggle escapes Marinette. “Alright, kitty.” She loops her arm through his. “Which movie are we going to watch this time?” 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr at [e-milieeee!](https://e-milieeee.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Comments are appreciated!


End file.
